Las Vegas, Nevada – When Chael Sonnen challenged Anderson Silva for the UFC® middleweight title on August 7, 2010 at UFC 117, he started the fight as a 4-1 underdog. He is the underdog once again for Saturday’s eagerly-awaited UFC 148 rematch, but the odds this time are significantly closer due to Sonnen’s incredible success in the first fight.
Chael Sonnen said: “To say this guy is superior to me is a joke. Look at the statistics from the first fight. I out-landed him by over 200 punches, I took him down at will, I passed his guard at will and I beat him on the feet too.”
Sonnen’s boasts are supported by hard data. According to FightMetric, the challenger landed 252 more strikes than Silva, with a total of 320 punches, kicks, elbows and knees finding the mark; Sonnen completed three takedowns in the fight, and kept Silva on his back for a combined 20 minutes of the fight – twice as much as “The Spider” had been on his back in his entire UFC career; Sonnen passed Silva’s guard into side-control six times and swept him as well; Sonnen also out-struck Silva during the three minutes the fight was contested standing up.
However, the champion said the only statistic that really counts is who won the fight.
Anderson Silva said: “He took me down, he is good at wrestling. Okay. Good. But I punch him in the face ‘BAP! BAP! BAP! BOOM!’ and that is it. I win. That’s it. No different from the first fight on Saturday. I win!”
Please click on links for video package with full statistics from first fight:
YouTube: http://youtu.be/oFjabcEgrzI
Downloadable link: http://pdvid.ufc.tv/2012/06/30/UFC148AltFinalwithEndpage.zip
UFC® 148: SILVA vs. SONNEN 2 will be available live on Pay-Per-View at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT on UFC.TV, iN DEMAND, DirecTV, DISH Network, Avail-TVN, and in Canada on BellTV, Shaw Communications, Sasktel, and Viewer’s Choice Canada for a suggested retail price of $44.99 US/$49.99 CAN for Standard Definition and $54.99 US/$59.99 CAN for High Definition.
For more information or current fight news, visit www.ufc.com. All bouts live and subject to change.
UFC 148 Middleweight Title Rematch Too Close To Call
Las Vegas, Nevada – When Chael Sonnen challenged Anderson Silva for the UFC® middleweight title on August 7, 2010 at UFC 117, he started the fight as a 4-1 underdog. He is the underdog once again for Saturday’s eagerly-awaited UFC 148 rematch, but…